


Siren

by NYWCgirl



Series: May whump 2020 [17]
Category: White Collar
Genre: Accident, Alternate Universe, Gen, Near Drowning, merman Neal, water whump 2020, ww-no.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:40:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24231502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NYWCgirl/pseuds/NYWCgirl
Summary: Peter enjoys his sailing trip, until he doesn't
Series: May whump 2020 [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1727719
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18
Collections: Hurt/Comfort Bingo - Round 10





	Siren

**Author's Note:**

> This ficlet is written for the seventeenth day of May’s month of whump. The prompt was ‘Siren’. It also fills the ‘unrequited pining’ square on my H/C Bingo card. This is a White collar ficlet because a lot of people asked for one, so here it is.

Peter enjoys his sail trip alone. Elizabeth had to work, a last minute job she couldn´t refuse, so he had left taking Satchmo with him. The boat is fully equipped to be sailed solo, so Peter took her out on Saturday morning.

Sailing solo isn´t as easy as it seems and it takes all of skills to guide her through the rocky shallows, but once he clears them, he plots his course into the auto pilot before he goes below deck to make some coffee and a sandwich. Enjoying his breakfast with the wind in his hair, he realizes how lucky he is to be able to do this.

When Satchmo barks, he looks up from the plotter. Satchmo walks up to the bow and Peter is happy he remembered to put on Satchmo´s life jacket. But when the dog keeps barking, Peter calls out to him to take it easy, they are all alone.

Eventually, Satchmo comes back to the helm and lays down next to Peter. The next couple of hours go uneventful.

It happens when Peter is on his way back. Out of nowhere a coastal fog appears. Peter is not worried as the boat is equipped with radar. But he knows it’s best to be cautious, so he takes the sails down and starts the engine. He will be visible to ships and he can see ships, but not the smaller ones that don´t have radar. So he is careful. He sounds the fog horn on regular intervals, tentatively listening if he can hear something.

The strange thing about fog is that you see things that aren´t there. The fog seems to move but Peter keeps checking the radar, his course and what he can actually see.

And then out of nowhere he can hear a man´s voice. He immediately throws the engine in neutral and listens but it is eerily quiet. Even Satchmo keeps still. The fog is really getting on his nerves. He re-starts the engine, hoping the fog will clear quickly. But there it is again. A male voice singing. He sounds the fog horn again, making sure he isn´t going to collide with a small fishing boat.

* * *

Later he can´t remember what exactly happened. The insurance company claims he hit a floating container that fell from a carrier. They are difficult the spot in perfect conditions, let alone during a fog.

But one moment he is slowing creeping forward through the fog, the next there is screeching and he is in the water. He calls out to Satchmo hoping the dog is OK.

Something must have snagged his foot, because he is pulled underwater. He desperately tries to claw at whatever is pulling him under but he can´t reach it and he can feel his lungs screaming for air. He needs to breath, like now.

His lungs burn and he knows he can´t withhold the breath he needs. And just when he inhales, cold lips close over his mouth and feed him precious air. His eyes snap open and he stares in a pair of blue eyes that match El’s. Whatever was dragging him down is gone but his body doesn´t respond to his brain and he has a floating feeling like someone is pulling him upward.

* * *

When he comes to, he is laying on the beach. Letting out a groan he tries to get his arm underneath him to push himself up. When he finally is able to turn around and sit up, he can see movement in the water, but it is gone before he can tell what it is.

He lays down again, catching his breath, taking stock of himself, but he appears to be alright. He scans the water and calls out, but he appears to be alone. Did he imagine that he was being rescued? He eventually gets up and goes to look for help.

* * *

Later when he was checked over in hospital and cleared, he drove back out to the ocean and sat down on a bolder. He is pretty sure there was a presence while he was drowning, that someone rescued him, but all he remembers are blue eyes that reminded him of El’s. He already knew he wouldn’t find peace before he knew who saved him. He just needed to know. 

Over the years that followed, he never stopped looking…


End file.
